Permission To Suck

Branding with Authentic Poetic Faith

15. October 2010

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A good brand constitutes “poetic faith”. They tell a “semblance of the truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief”. The critical word here being: "willing".

Equipment Doesn’t Matter; iPhone Movies & Michael Koerbel

28. July 2010

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"Apple of My Eye" is a great little short film shot and edited on the iPhone 4 in 48 hours. It's a great example of working "inside the box" of a creative challenge.

Get as Close to the Flame as You Can

10. May 2010

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Flame finding is your talent. Imagination is hot, execution is cold. The flame is illusive; if you must obsess about something, make it a flame search. "I think part of the process of this whole thing is to get as close to the flame as you can get without being burned" – Graham Nash

Paul Rand: “That son-of-a-bitch. He was so good …”

29. April 2010

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"Everyone has to learn too much in too short a time. The only way of learning is to do it. There is no shortcut. You need to do a lot of things over and over to get better and better ... Time is short, art is long" - Saul Bass

Ube’s Ice Cream Shop

12. April 2010

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All Creatives will relate to artist Ube Urban. I got an immediate warm feeling when I watched him paint a bicycle in Jake Wiens' video; I know what it's like to be immersed in the flow of creating. The idea has been captured so the remainder is letting the gun do it's thing.

“Look for excellence rather than the results of it” – Ryan Lobo

28. December 2009

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Photography at its root is honest. Its analog legacy is documentary, accuracy and authenticity. Digitally transformed, the honesty of image capture is being questioned. Regarding truth, however, photography’s quality has remained unchanged. Each capture is a story and the storyteller is the purveyor of truth. Compassionate storyteller, Ryan Lobo, relates some remarkable insights in a 15 minute presentation.

The Afghanistan Portfolio of Photographer – David Guttenfelder

26. November 2009

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Photographers learn early to capture contrast. Most serious photographers – pre digital – started seeing frames in black and white so the word “contrast” is etched into our professional consciousness. Yet, contrast is more importantly seen as paradox. In this group of images taken in Afghanistan by Photographer David Guttenfelder, we are confronted with some of the most profound examples.

Rodney Smith: A Master Maker

21. September 2009

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I believe you can break photographers down to two categories, “the makers” and “the takers”. I would put Rodney Smith into the former; he’s a maker. This isn’t a value judgment, only an observation, but wait, there’s more.

Saddle Up

10. August 2009

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Creativity is often manifested by saddling up a 20 something ambitious ego and riding it ragged until exhausted. Postpone utter collapse by permitting an hour or two of office ping pong every day, but then ride the fatigue into long weekend hours until spent. Overall it’s a good strategy but not especially sustainable. In this Video Charlie Rose Talks to the author John Grisham.